No need for crampons and ice axes for today's mountain walk - lots of the snow had gone during the rain last night and the freezing level has crept back above the summits. Pen yr Ole Wen was our objective today, which involved a steep but steady ascent up its south ridge. Clare was setting the pace and judging by this photo, I was still waking up while trying to keep on her heels!
About half way up a hail shower rolled in across the valley. We watched it approach and willed it to pass us by, but it's course was set, so we continued up while it pelted down. With our hoods up and the wind on our backs, it was actually ok and had blown though by the time we reached the top.
As it cleared, there was a brief glimpse of a broken-spectre over the ridge and then for the rest of the hike, we had mostly clear skies and good views.
After a sandwich stop and a quick navigation re-cap near the summit, we descended eastwards along the more shallow angled ridge and down to the A5 at Glan Dena, before returning along the shore of Llyn Ogwen back to the van. A nice circuit indeed.
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